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UCMMA 17: Blood, Sweat and…Arm Triangles?

The last UCMMA of the year went out with a fantastic bang as the UK based company put on a fantastic showing for the fans. With three title’s on the line and the first ever UCMMA female bout, the Troxy was simply electric.

Starting off was Michelle Tyler Vs Vicki Watts, who were both making their debut in MMA. However, both fighters had been training for years in different types of martial arts, so there was some serious experience for both ladies. Watts, who is a well respected grappler decided to stand with the much taller Tyler, who has an extensive history in Muay Thai. Watts jumped in and out with her punches, but barely connected. Tyler’s threw some dangerous strikes and connected with the majority of them. However, the exclamation mark of the first round was Tyler’s Rampage Jackson like throw which looked like it knocked the stuffing out of Watts.

The second round was a much closer affair and Watts came back into the fight with some fantastic head movement, nice jabs and good footwork. She seemed to frustrate Tyler significantly, as Tyler found it hard to land anything during this round. Both fighters looked incredibly tired as they’d both given their all in both rounds. However, the strikes that Tyler wasn’t landing in the second round, she began to land in the third, eventually knocking out a very tough competitor in Vicki Watts.

Next up was a fight for the Bantamweight title, between late replacement James Lutman and Cory Tait. The first two rounds were controlled by Lutman and were really a showcase of his ground skills, but also a showcase of how tough a fighter Cory Tait is as he hung out throughout a barrage of strikes on the ground. The third round was a different affair as Tait started to get into gear and unleashed ferocious strikes upon Lutman, nearly knocking him out late in the third round. However, Lutman won a well deserved decision as he nulified the strikes of Tait. However, one would wonder how Lutman would have fared if the fight went five rounds instead of three.

It was a battle of the young vs the old for the UCMMA featherweight title as the veteran David Lee took on the young and ever entertaining, John Kelly. However, the experience of David Lee was evident from the start of the fight as he quickly took Kelly’s back and ended it with a rear naked choke in the first round.

Fan favourite, Nick “Headhunter” Chapman took on late replacement for Jimmy Millar, David Zatolovsky in a Light-Heavyweight bout. Many have seen Chapman run through the two opponents that he has faced and it was really time for him to face an opponent that was truly going to test the exciting prospect and Zatolovsky didn’t disappoint. Zatolovsky gave Chapman a tough fight, sweeping him and landing significant amounts of ground and pound that had Chapman’s legion of fans worrying. However, the turning point of the fight was when Chapman gathered the strength to sweep Zatolovsky to gain top position and rain down some punches of his own.

The sweep renewed confidence of Chapman and in the second round he took Zatolovksy down again and finished his opponent off with an arm triangle, passing guard swiftly.

Mark Potter faced Tomasz Czerwinski in a what was the quickest knockout of the night. Not much happened within the 20 seconds that it took for Potter to take Czerwinski, but what we found out was that Potter is a savage who fears no-one and packs an incredibly heavy punch.

The last fight of the night was a Heavyweight Title fight between Ben Smith and Irving Daniels. There was no messing around as Smith and Daniels went toe to toe in relentless fashion. Daniels showed his toughness, but Smith eventually won via TKO in the 2nd round.